Example embodiments of the inventive concept generally relate to electrostatic discharge, and in particularly, to an electrostatic discharge protection circuit.
A semiconductor integrated circuit is highly sensitive to an electrostatic discharge (ESD) pulse. That is, the high voltage and large current attendant an ESD pulse can physically damage the semiconductor integrated circuit. Further, as integration densities of semiconductor devices increase, the voltage and current levels capable of causing damage decrease. As such, in an effort to prevent ESD damage of a semiconductor device, an ESD protection circuit may be connected to an input/output terminal of the semiconductor device.
When an ESD pulse is applied to a semiconductor device, the ESD protection circuit is generally configured to quickly discharge the ESD pulse to the outside of a semiconductor device. In general, a bipolar transistor or a diode is implemented as the ESD protection circuit. In some cases, a grounded gate NMOS transistor is implemented for the ESD protection circuit.